Overview

Class Central Tips

There is an important difference between leading from without and leading from within: the way decisions are made. Those who lead from without make moral decisions based on external pressure or the opinions of others rather than on the basis of deeply held personal values and beliefs. When they speak about moral issues they do so without authenticity and inspire doubt rather than confidence in their followers. Those who lead from within have deeply held personal values and beliefs and courageously make decisions based on those convictions. They have a clear sense of purpose in their own lives and inspire a clear sense of purpose and direction in others. This course will provide tools and insights that will help you successfully lead from within at the personal, organizational, and societal levels.

Syllabus

The Big Questions in Ethics

In this first week of the course, you will reflect on some of the big questions in ethics within the context of your leadership goals. By the end of the week, you should be able to articulate a clearer guiding ideal of success in life when it comes to your work and your personal goals. Activities in this week’s lessons ask you to ponder what your life’s purpose is. Throughout the week, you will be prompted to reflect on the question of whether or not ethics can be taught and whether or not motive matters in ethics. You can also discover ways in which your work intersects with your faith.

The Personal Level of Moral Behavior

This week’s lessons cover several topics related to leadership and the personal level of moral behavior. By the end of this week, you will learn what it means to live in moral and spiritual alignment and identify the values and beliefs that define you morally and spiritually (who you are), and how those shape your exercise of leadership (how you act). You will also be able to appreciate the foundational importance of the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude to effective leadership. As the week progresses, you will gain insight into factors that undermine moral behavior through reflection and the video about the Milgram experiment. You will also learn about different types of friendship. The final lesson in this week guides you in the development of a systematic approach to resolving moral dilemmas (how you decide) and tests your knowledge of all that was covered in Week 2.

Ethical Leadership at the Organizational Level

This week, you will learn seven lessons relevant to leadership at the organizational level. Some of the lessons have to do with leadership itself, and some have to do with organizational life. You will begin by articulating your leadership point of view and then reflect on how to cultivate a reputation for ethical leadership. You will then consider the Notre Dame ideal of being a leader who is tender, strong, and true. Having already pondered your purpose as a leader, you will then ponder the overriding purpose of business itself. Next, you will consider the choice leaders face between taking an ethically minimalist, compliance-based approach to ethics management or a more aspirational, integrity- or values-based approach. Finally, you will learn both the four main drivers of moral behavior that lead people to do the right thing, as well as the seven deadly sins, which represent persistent tendencies to do the wrong thing and harm individuals and relationships in the process.

Ethical Issues at the Societal Level

Business leaders are increasingly pressed to take stances on pressing social issues like racial justice, gender equity, climate change, a living wage, and gun control. This week will introduce concepts that will help those who want to lead from within to develop a thoughtful point of view on social issues by reflecting on the following topics: human nature, the distribution of benefits and burdens in society, Catholic social teaching, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, resolving pressing social issues, resolving cross-cultural ethical dilemmas, and the role of solitude in effective leadership.